DN-15The Great Discourse on Origination - Mahānidāna SuttaAnanda is rebuked for saying the law of dependent origination is ‘as clear as clear’ to him. The Buddha explains it in reverse order first, but going back only to mind-and-body and consciousness (that is, factors 4 and 3 of the usual list of 12) and also omitting the six sense-bases (No 5). The exposition ends with a reference to the seven stages of consciousness and the two realms.

DN-33The Chanting Together - Sangīti Sutta The Venerable Sariputta under the instruction of the Buddha taught a retinue of monks a compilation of the Buddha's teachings in the form of a recital classifying each collection of points under separate heading group of the ones, twos etc. to facilitate easy memorizing and recitation.

MN-4Fear and Dread - Bhayabherava Sutta The Buddha explains to a brahmin what is needed to practice alone in the jungle without fear and dread, beginning with overcoming the five hindrances. He then goes on to describe his own experience of conquering fear when striving for enlightenment. He entered into the four jhānas and on three watches of the night attained the three knowledges: the recollection of his past lives, the passing away and reappearance of beings (according to their actions), and the Four Noble Truths.

MN-5 Without Blemishes - Anangaṇa SuttaVen. Sāriputta gives a discourse on the meaning of blemishes, explaining that a bhikkhu becomes blemished when he falls under the sway of evil wishes. He describes the advantages of abandoning these evil wishes, thereby gaining honor, respect, reverence, and veneration.

10-Aug-07 August 07 Series Transcript - 01:09:48

MN-9Right View - Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta This comprehensive discourse is given by Ven. Sāriputta. He begins by defining what is wholesome and the root of the wholesome, and what is unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome. Using the format of the Four Noble Truths (understanding the object, the origin of the object, the cessation of the object, and the way leading to the cessation of the object), he goes through nutriment, the Four Noble Truths, and all twelve factors of dependent origination.

MN-10The Foundations of Mindfulness - Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta This is the most important discourse by the Buddha on the training of mindfulness meditation, with particular attention given to developing insight. The Buddha begins by declaring that the four foundations of mindfulness are the direct path leading to the realization of Nibbāna. He then gives detailed instructions on the four foundations: the contemplation of the body, feelings, mind, and mind objects.

MN-12 The Greater Discourse on the Lion’s Roar - Mahāsīhanādada SuttaIn this discourse, the Buddha talks about his many superior qualities, including a list of ten powers of the Tathāgata and many other lists that show explicitly how spiritually advanced he is. Of particular interest is his description of the time he practiced austerities.

MN-13The Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering - Mahādukkhakkhandha Sutta The Buddha explains what is the gratification and danger of, and escape from, sensual pleasures. He explains the danger of sense pleasures, ascribing the cause of the mass of suffering as clinging to sense pleasures. He also explains the gratification and danger of, and escape from, material form and feeling.

MN-18The Honeyball - Madhupiṇḍika SutaThis is an important discourse on papañca. Papañca is the proliferation and projection of mind that emerges from the process of cognition, and gives rise to perceptions and notions that overwhelm and victimize a person. After the Buddha has finished speaking, Ven. Mahā Kaccāna gives the detailed meaning.

MN-19 Two Kinds of Thought - Dvedhāvitakka Sutta The Buddha divides thought into two classes: thoughts of sensual desire, ill will and cruelty; and thoughts of renunciation, non-ill will (mettā) and noncruelty (karuṇā). This discourse states simply that unwholesome thought bring about unhappiness, and wholesome thoughts bring about happiness. Unwholesome thoughts can be replaced by wholesome thoughts (and, even better, a quiet, collected mind). Knowing this, we can bring about happiness and freedom from pain.

MN-20The Removal of Distracting Thoughts - Vitakkasaṇṭhāna SuttaFive methods of removing distracting thoughts are presented, but the last four may have been added by Brahmins some time after the time of the Buddha.

MN-21The Simile of the Saw - Kakacūpama SuttaThis discourse is a challenging and relevant training on how to develop compassion, lovingkindness, equanimity and patience even when we are physically attacked or fatally wounded by someone.

MN-26The Noble Search - Ariyapariyesanā SuttaThe Buddha gives the bhikkhus a long account of his own quest for enlightenment from the time of his life in the palace through to his transmission of the Dharma to his first five disciples.

MN-27The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprint - Cūḷahatthipadopama SuttaThe Buddha uses the simile of the elephant’s footprint to show how one must not come to a conclusion too hastily about the certainty of whether one is fully enlightened. This applies to whether the Dharma is well proclaimed by the Buddha and whether the Sangha is practicing the good way.

MN-28The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint - Mahāhatthipadopama SuttaThis is an important discourse that is involved, yet clear and precise. Ven. Sāriputta begins with a statement about the Four Noble Truths and proceeds to explain the impersonal (not-self) aspect of each of the four elements (earth, water, fire and air), showing how they relate to the five aggregates affected by clinging.

MN-29The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood - Mahāsāropama SuttaThe Buddha uses the simile of a great tree possessed of heartwood, sapwood, inner bark and outer bark, twigs and leaves, to point out how the holy life is not for gain, honor and renown; virtue; the attainment of concentration; nor for knowledge and vision. It is for the unshakable deliverance of the mind.

MN-30 The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood - Cūḷasāropama Sutta Using the simile of a great tree possessed of heartwood, sapwood, inner bark and outer bark, twigs and leaves, the Buddha points out how the holy life is not for gain, honor and renown, nor simply for the attainment of virtue, nor the attainment of collectedness, nor for knowledge and vision. It is for the unshakable deliverance of the mind. This is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood, and its end.

MN-35 The Shorter Discourse to Saccaka - Cūḷasaccaka Sutta This is a good story where Saccaka, a Nigaṇṭha’s son who considered himself an unexcelled debater, tries to take on the Buddha, who then turns Saccaka’s assertions upside­down. He demonstrates to Saccaka that the five aggregates are not­self because one can gain no mastery over them.

MN-36The Greater Discourse to Saccaka - Mahāsaccaka Sutta This is another dialogue with Saccaka. This time the Buddha describes what it means when an arisen pleasant feeling does not invade one’s mind and remain because the body is developed, and arisen painful feeling does not invade one’s mind and remain because the mind is developed. He gives another account of his experiences before his enlightenment (compare with MN 26).

MN-37The Shorter Discourse on the Destruction of Craving - Cūḷataṇhāsankhaya SuttaWishing to discover if Sakka, ruler of gods, has understood the meaning of a short discourse the Buddha had given to him, Ven. Mahā Moggallāna makes a brief trip to the Heaven of the Thirtythree. The Buddha had told Sakka that nothing is worth clinging to, and that, whatever feelings arise, one should contemplate the impermanence in those feelings.

​MN-38The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving - Mahātaṇhāsankhaya SuttaThis is an important discourse on dependent origination and the destruction of craving. After reprimanding the bhikkhu Sāti about the view he was proclaiming—that the same consciousness runs through the round of rebirths— the Buddha explains from every angle the correct way to view dependent origination, showing how all phenomena of existence arise and cease through conditions.

MN-43 The Greater Series of Questions and Answers - Mahāvedalla SuttaVen. Mahā Koṭṭhita meets with Ven. Sāriputta and asks questions about the Dharma in order to refine his understanding. This discourse expounds various subtle points of Dhamma.

MN-44The Shorter Series of Questions and Answers - Cūḷavedalla Sutta This discourse is a discussion between bhikkhuni Dhammadinnā and her former husband, the lay follower Visākha. It includes many excellent points on identity, feelings (vedanā), cessation and Nibbāna. 8 Fold path is discussed.

MN-46The Greater Discourse on Ways of Undertaking Things - Mahādhammasamādāna SuttaHere the Buddha clearly and simply states the truth of cause and effect. He shows how we can bring about our own transformation by applying wisdom to the way we undertake things. An ignorant person does not know what things should and should not be cultivated and followed. A wise person knows what things should and should not be cultivated and followed. Examples are given for each.

MN-47 The Inquirer - Vīmaṃsaka SuttaThe Buddha invites the bhikkhus to make an investigation of himself (the Buddha) in order to find out whether or not he is fully enlightened. He gives them a list of criteria to review.

MN-48 The Kosambians- Kosambiya Sutta When the bhikkhus at Kosambī are engaged in a dispute, the Buddha teaches them six qualities that create love and unity. Of the last and “highest” quality, right view, he teaches seven more qualities that will, if practiced, lead one to the complete destruction of suffering. These are also called the seven knowledges attained by a stream enterer.

MN-55To Jivaka - Jivaka Sutta This is the discourse in which the Buddha lays down his rules for eating meat. He clearly states that what makes food permissible and blameless has to do with the attitude with which the food is eaten, rather than the food itself, in this case, meat.

MN-56 Upāli Sutta To UpāliThis discourse is a good story that gives us a flavor of the time of the Buddha. The wealthy and influential householder Upāli, a prominent supporter of the Jains, proposes to go to the Buddha and refute his doctrine. Instead, he finds himself converted by the Buddha’s “converting magic.”​

MN-59The Many Kinds of Feeling- Bahuvedanīya SuttaThe Buddha clears up the question of why someone may be confused as to how many kinds of feeling there are, for he has presented many different lists. This discourse also describes the progressive pleasure one attains from the eight meditative attainments, and from the attainment of cessation.

MN-62The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rāhula - Mahārāhulovāda SuttaThe Buddha advises Ven. Rāhula to practice a variety of meditations: on the emptiness of the five aggregates, on the five elements, on the four brahmavihāras, on foulness, on impermanence, and on mindfulness of breathing.

MN-63The Shorter Discourse to Māluunkyāputta - Cūḷamālunkya SuttaThe monk who was given this discourse by the Buddha was prepared to leave the holy life if the Buddha could not declare what he had left undeclared. The Buddha makes quite clear what he has and has not declared and why. The monk was satisfied.

MN-66The Simile of the Quail - Laṭukikopama SuttaThe Buddha gives a teaching to Ven. Udāyin on the importance of abandoning every fetter, no matter how trivial it may seem, including any attachment to the eight meditative attainments. Included are some good similes on how the situation itself is not what determines whether something is binding or not, but how one views it.

MN-70At Kīṭāgiri - Kīṭāgiri Sutta While admonishing two monks, the Buddha asks them if they have ever known him to give teachings that did not make wholesome states increase, and unwholesome state decrease. He also tells them of the seven kinds of noble persons in the world.

MN-71To Vacchagotta on the Threefold True Knowledge - Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta In this short conversation between the Buddha and Vacchagotta, the Buddha denies possessing complete knowledge of everything at all times and in all states. He says the correct description of him would be that he possesses the Threefold Knowledge: recollection of his past lives, ability to see the lives of others, and true deliverance of mind by wisdom.

MN-75To Māgandiya - Māgandiya Sutta In conversation with the hedonist Māgandiya, the Buddha explains the dangers of clinging to sense pleasures when there is something far superior to delight in. The Buddha uses many similes to demonstrate his points. In the end, Māgandiya becomes one of the arahants.

MN-77The Greater Discourse to Sakuludāyin - Mahāsakuludāyi SuttaThis is a long discourse given to a group of well known wanderers. It reviews the Buddha’s whole progression of teachings, providing information that is repeated throughout the discourses. The Buddha gives five reasons for why he is venerated and honored.

MN-91Brahmāyu - Brahmāyu SuttaThis is the story of a very old and famous brahmin who sends a student to the Buddha to verify that he has indeed the 32 marks of a Great Man. They are all listed here. In the end, the brahmin becomes his disciple.

MN-105To Sunakkhatta - Sunakkhatta Sutta The Buddha discusses with Sunakkhatta the problem of someone overestimating his or her level of attainment. He is basically saying that if one really knows the cause of bondage (which is craving), then one would not do things that arouse one's mind toward any object of attachment. There are those who say they are intent only on Nibbāna but their actions are not congruent with their statement. This is a very good basic prescription from the Surgeon (the Buddha), which is essentially the heart of the teaching on how to heal the wound of suffering.

MN-106The Way to the Imperturbable - Āneñjasappāya SuttaThe Buddha explains the approaches to various levels of higher meditative states culminating in Nibbāna. He points out how one can get caught in clinging at any of these levels. The imperturbable refers to the 4th jhāna and the 1st two immaterial states.

MN-107To Gaṇaka Moggallāna - Gaṇakamoggallāna SuttaGaṇaka Moggallāna asks the Buddha to describe the gradual training in this Dharma and Discipline. Then the Buddha gives a good simile on why some disciples reach the goal and some do not.

MN-109The Greater Discourse on the Fullmoon Night- Mahāpuṇṇama SuttaIn a large gathering of disciples, one who is a teacher of many students asks the Buddha questions in the hope that it will help to refine his students’ understanding of not-self, primarily by exploring the emptiness of the five aggregates.

MN-112The Sixfold Purity - Chabbisodhana SuttaIf someone claims to have attained final knowledge, the Buddha expounds on how that person should be questioned, and on what the nature of his or her answer should be. The discourse includes an indepth description of the Buddha’s liberated mind, thereby showing every possible way that clinging can arise and be extinguished.

MN-114To Be Cultivated and Not To Be Cultivated - Sevitabbāsevitabba SuttaVen. Sāriputta fills in the details of the Buddha’s outline on what should be cultivated and what should not. This discourse is quite specific and is a supplement to MN-9 and MN-41.

MN-115The Many Kinds of Elements - Bahudhātukka SuttaThe Buddha expounds in detail the elements, the six sense bases, dependent origination, and the kinds of situations that are possible and impossible in the world (for one who has right view.)

MN-117The Great Forty - Mahācattārīsaka SuttaThe Buddha defines the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path and explains their interrelationships. One interesting aspect of this discourse is that it clearly shows the Noble Eightfold Path as a way to practice not only for ordinary persons, but also for those who have already entered the stream.

MN-118Mindfulness of Breathing - Ānāpānasati SuttaA very important discourse explaining mindfulness of breathing and how it relates to the four foundations of mindfulness, to the seven enlightenment factors, and to true knowledge and deliverance.

MN-119 Mindfulness of the Body - Kāyagatāsati SuttaThe Buddha explains how mindfulness of the body is developed and cultivated so that one can receive great benefits. The jhānas are also included as a way of developing mindfulness of the body.

MN-122 The Greater Discourse on Voidness - Mahāsuññata Sutta Seeing that the bhikkhus were growing fond of socializing, the Buddha stresses the importance of seclusion: to enter and abide in voidness internally and externally if one wants to obtain, without difficulty, the bliss of enlightenment.

MN-128 Imperfections - Upakkilesa Sutta This discourse has two parts. In the first, there is more information about living in concord, arising from the dispute at Kosambī (as in MN-48). It includes a famous series of stanzas about living with non-hatred. In the second, the Buddha discusses the various impediments to meditative progress.

MN-133Mahākaccānabhaddekaratta Sutta - Mahā Kaccāna and a Single Excellent Night A summary and exposition on a verse about how one revives the past, puts hope in the future and gets embroiled in the present, and how not to do this. The Buddha emphasizes the need for present effort in seeing things as they are. The Buddha gives the teaching in brief. After he leaves for his dwelling, Mahā Kaccāna analyzes the verse by way of the twelve sense bases.

MN-137 The Exposition of the Sixfold Base - Saļāyatanavibhanga Sutta​​The Buddha expounds on the six internal and external sense bases and then focuses primarily on the 18 kinds of mental exploration and the 36 positions of beings. Both sets relate to the exploration of joy, grief and equanimity at the six sense bases. The second, the 36 positions of being, also includes the point of view of both the householder - one who is intent on saṁsāra, and the renunciate - one who is intent on liberation.

MN-138The Exposition of a Summary- Uddesavibhaṅga SuttaIn this discourse, Ven. Mahā Kaccāna answers questions about what it means for consciousness to be scattered and distracted externally, what it means for the mind to be stuck, what it means for consciousness to be agitated due to clinging, and how to end these difficulties. This is a useful discourse.

MN-140The Exposition of the Elements - Dhātuvibhanga SuttaThis is a profound and touching account of the Buddha’s meeting with Pukkusāti (a former king), who had gone forth but had never met the Buddha. The Buddha could tell he was ripe for awakening, so he gave him a private teaching without Pukkusāti’s knowing he was the Buddha. Primarily, the discourse is about four foundations: wisdom, truth, relinquishment and peace. It also includes a great deal on feeling (vedanā). The last section is about mental conceiving. When Pukkusāti went out to look for a proper robe and bowl for his ordination, he was killed by a cow and reborn in the Avihā heaven as a nonreturner.

MN-141The Exposition of the Truths - Saccavibhanga SuttaVen. Sāriputta gives a fairly detailed summary of the Four Noble Truths. There is a more detailed analysis in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the Dīgha Nikāya (DN 22.18).

MN-142The Exposition of Offerings - Dakkhiṇāvibhanga SuttaThe Buddha lists fourteen kinds of personal offerings that will bear fruit, and comments on the extent to which they might be fruitful. He also describes seven kinds of offerings one can make to the Sangha.9-Jul-14 DSMC - Video 00:34:20

MN-143Advice to Anāthapiṇḍika - Anāthapiṇḍikovāda Sutta The householder Anāthapiṇḍika is on his deathbed and calls for Ven. Sāriputta, in whom he has full confidence. The venerable gives him a sermon on nonclinging in order to release him from his pain.

MN-145Advice to Puṇṇā - Puṇṇovāda SuttaThis is a brief discourse and teaching by the Buddha to Puṇṇā, who decides to live among the fierce people of a remote territory. The Buddha tests his attitude toward those who may harm him, and Puṇṇā demonstrates the strength of his understanding.

MN-148The Six Sets of Six - Chachakka Sutta A profound and penetrating discourse on the contemplation of all the factors of sense experience as not self.This is a very powerful and deep Sutta, and Bhante (usually) reads this as it is, with no comments, directly from the Middle Length sayings. He includes every repetition “...” and leaves nothing out. The six sets of six are what the mind and body is comprised of, and it is all an impersonal process. By repeating each piece over and over again, with all of its sub-sets, the students will realize for themselves, that they are each nothing but an impersonal mix of mental and bodily factors arising and passing way.

MN-149The Great Sixfold Base - Mahāsaḷāyatanika SuttaThis brief discourse is a complete, clear, and direct discourse explaining the cause of suffering and its end. If one has wrong view about the six sense bases (not seeing things as they actually are with wisdom, which implies not seeing the three characteristics), then this leads to more suffering and the continuation of being. If one has right view, this leads to liberation.

MN-152 The Development of the Faculties - Indriyabhāvanā SuttaThis is a useful discourse on the supreme development of the five sense faculties. Essentially, the Buddha describes how to control the mind’s reactivity to agreeable, disagreeable and indifferent formations so that one can be established in equanimity. The discourse contains many very good similes.

SN 35:28 Burning Āditta-Pariyaya Sutta This sutta, often called “The Fire Sermon,” is the third discourse of the Buddha as recorded in the narrative of his ministry at Vin I 34—35. According to this source, the thousand bhikkhus were former jaṭila (matted-hair) ascetics under the leadership of the three Kassapa brothers. The Buddha had converted them by a series of miracles, after which he preached the present sermon. The sermon gains special meaning from the fact that before their conversion these ascetics had been devoted to the fire sacrifice.